Dream a Dream
by Lost-Remembrance
Summary: Two choice leave or give those he killed vengeance. What to choose is the question...
1. Please Help Me

Summary: After a frightening dream of a repeated mistake, Kenshin begins to grow uneasy and looks at his two plans. Become a wanderer and have his heart broken by leaving those he loves or to grant the secret oath he made to those he killed: vengeance.

Disclaimer: I don't own a single Rurouni Kenshin character.

Note: My first Rurouni Kenshin fanfic. . Now, on with the story...

Dream a Dream:

Prologue:

Kenshin walked down the wooden hall, the dark wooden planks creaking beneath him. Tonight was another one of those soundless nights that nothing seemed to stir, except him of course. The blade at his side and his exhausted body showed that he had been practicing, very unlike him, out in the dojo area.

The moon hung low in the sky, making the already small stars seem smaller than they really were. A cloud passed over the silver light radiating from the waning moon and blocked his path for a moment, causing his almost purple eyes to seemingly glow a golden color.

Whispers filled the trees and the screams came back to him, suffocating him in the slowly compressing passageway leading to his "temporary" room. It was better than the shed that he had stayed at, yet the forest was close. Too close for him to feel comfort as the screaming winds reminded him of the people he silenced with his deadly katana.

Then she came, her of all people. He fell to the floor, his exhaustion getting the better of him as he slept in the pile he crumbled into right in the middle of the passageway. He was completely dead to his surroundings, very unlike the former assassin.

In his dream, him and Tomoe were there, happily chopping vegetables as she said something he couldn't hear or remember.

A blade cut her down as he stared in horror. He couldn't do anything but watch as the blade plunged in and out of her body, creating fine streams of blood which all floated together into one pool or lake of blood she was soaking it, staining her pink kimono a deep crimson shade.

Kenshin's blood red tears mingled with that of her corpse, her lifeless eyes seemingly pleading to know a single worded question; 'Why?'

Why?

The mantra continued being chanted through his skull, compressing all his knowledge of common sense as he fell to his knees in a crippled cry. He let out a cry of sorrow that wretched his heart in two as he looked at the lifeless body of his wife. The katana he once had at his side stained in her blood lying beside her.

Author's note:

'kay, that was the introduction, yeah...i know that i'm a psyco. Anyhow, this story is for Shellie-kun since she wanted me to do a Rurouni Kenshin fic, though i'm smearing my name as a Gundam Wing writer (no worries though...hopefully that is. nothing can keep me from my devoted show!). I'm gonna try and do this with Shellie-kun as a double written story (ya know, when you team up with someone or watever) the author(s) will be posted on chapter one (hint hint shellie!) since i can't spell these people's names for crap. Hopefully i spelled them all right in this intro. .

Alrighty then: I love reviews and this is in fact, my first RK fanfic if i didn't mention it before, so it'll probably suck alot. Please forgive my spelling if anything is spelled wrong. i have a knack for that.

I'm sure that it's quite confusing as of now, but i hope that it will be more clear late ron. Auf Weidersehen!

Red Tail


	2. Somethings Wrong?

Kenshin's eyes opened and his body jerked up, rapidly heaving from the nightmare he visualized. His breathing hitched a bit when he remembered the blood seeping through his hands. His violet eyes widened slightly as he covered his hand and quickly made his way down the hall and opened the door, throwing himself out onto the cold patted down dirt.

He closed his eyes and tried to block the memories from coming back, which didn't help at all. He could taste the bile creeping it's way up his throat. He rushed over to a bush and retched at the thought of what he remembered. How could he ever forgive himself?

Tomoe's pale face that was cold slowly faded and morphed before Kenshin's eyes, wide with horror and disbelief. Soon, the once smiling face of Kaoru appeared in Tomoe's place and her eyes held hatred for him, fear for the blade he wielded. She also feared him, the Battousai.

_He saw the body move a bit as if registering the hit on her shoulder. She blinked and then lifted her hand to touch the blade. Before her fingers lingered even near the wound, Kenshin plunged his sword into her heart, ruptured blood vessels spraying blood on his face and already red hair. His breathing because erratic as he realized what he had just done. He had no control over his actions. None at all._

_He fell to his knees, trying to tear at his skin, make the feeling flowing through his veins stop. How could he feel pleasure?! He had murdered her!_

Kenshin finally calmed down though he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth as he tried to spit out the awful taste of the bile. His ashen face showed the fright he held deep down in his soul. He let the cool air wash over his body and he felt the moons soft rays try to sooth him as the crickets chirruped in the distance.

He rose to his feet, getting the shaking feeling out of his body. He had tried to wear himself to exhaustion by practicing with the boken but it obviously didn't work well. He had hoped a dreamless sleep, but this was the third one this week so far.

He took a deep breath and cleared his vision and then closed his eyes as if in meditation while standing. He stayed there until he felt some of the suns warm rays touch his skin and he opened his eyes, letting the serene feeling leave his body.

He sighed heavily and then walked over to the well and got some water, splashing it on his face. He let the water stream over him like tears of rainwater and then he shook it away as if trying to forget the night. He rose to his feet, the water absorbing into his gi.

He padded off to his room and changed into his normal clothes and then headed towards the kitchen and get breakfast started for Kaoru and Yahiko. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the door slightly opened. He opened it further to see Sanosuke snoring on the floor. The door leading into the dojo was partially opened and the stench of sake on Sano's breath showed that he was down right drunk.

"At least he made it this far." Kenshin chuckled as he managed to pick up the bigger form of the street fighter and drag him off to his room and lay him on his futon.

He got up and walked past his room and noticed the one thing he forgot, his sakabato. He stared at the blade from the open door to his room, just standing there and staring at the blade.

That was it. In his dream, the thing that made it so different was that this time he had a sakabato on the sharp side, not the dull side. It was flipped over as he intended to kill both Tomoe and Kaoru. His eyes began to widen as the stains of blood seemed to drip on the walls, blood pouring like a river from the blade, the blood of those he hurt with the blade h wielding to protect people.

The swirls of the different colors of blood blended together, forming a deep crimson, almost black blood. It seemed to come for him, trying to reach him to pull him down and drown him. His breathing because almost as erratic as his heart beat as he quickly took a step back and blinked when he realized he had bumped into someone who was walking past him in a sleeping daze almost.

"S-Sano?" Kenshin said, blinking to push away the hallucination he had.

"Kenshin?" Sano questioned with a raised eyebrow. There was something in the smaller man's eyes that told him something wasn't right. Something was wrong with Kenshin to put him on his nerves like this.

Author's note:

I'm so sorry reviewers for making y'all wait so long for this chapter! Currently I'm writing on a Saturday. I'm also sorry that it's short, I think all the chapters might be since I need to find time to update all my stories. sigh I can't wait for Thanksgiving weekend break, more time to write! And then its Christmas break! Yeah! Uh...Shellie I updated the story so don't murder me! Now if I update me other story that's a slash....muahahah! I had this creepy story where this store had my name or something... shivers that was creepy. Oh, yeah and the story title for those who don't know is a DDR song, 'kay? Red Tail


	3. Blindly Seeing

"_S-Sano?" Kenshin said, blinking to push away the hallucination he had._

"_Kenshin?" Sano questioned with a raised eyebrow. There was something in the smaller man's eyes that told him something wasn't right. Something was wrong with Kenshin to put him on his nerves like this._

Chapter Three: Blindly Seeing

"Yes Sano?" He asked, his Rurouni mask in place now. He grinned slightly, still not bothering to reach for his blade, the sakabato.

"Uh…are you all right?" Sano questioned, mentally slapping himself in the forehead for that. 'Baka! Of COURSE he's not gonna tell ya if he's all right or not, this is KENSHIN we're talking about here.' His mind told him. 'Mentally talking of course.' It added with a short-lived laugh.

"Yes, Sano." Kenshin said, seemingly a little drawn back by the question. 'Does it look **that** obvious?' He wondered. "I'm fine, I'll be off cooking breakfast then," He smiled, walking off, his faithful sakabato still not at his hip.

Sano looked at the open door into Kenshin's near vacant room and noticed his blade not on him. 'Odd, Kenshin must **really** be rattled to not notice he forgot his sakabato!' It sounded incredulous to the thought, but Sano shrugged and grabbed the sword, sheath and all and walked with it lazily around the dojo to try and find the wanderer and return his sword.

There was Kenshin, not fixing breakfast but just sitting there, staring at the blue sky. A couple of pretty birds fluttered past him and he stared at them, not a rurouni's pleasant gaze but more on the lines of a blank look.

"Kenshin?" Sano's words broke the red head from his thoughts.

"Oro?" Kenshin turned his head and stopped abruptly, staring at the sakabato being held out to him.

"Well, are ya gonna take it or not?" Sano said, brushing off Kenshin's weird behavior as some idea that it was a real blade and not a sakabato.

Kenshin's slightly shaking hand grasped the hilt of the sword and he removed it from his sheath as his mind mentally played with him, imagining red blood dripping from the blade and onto him, painting his now ashen skin.

"Hey!" Sano shouted, waving a hand in front of Kenshin's dazed eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked after he got Kenshin's attention. The red head blinked his violet eyes and then shook his head and nodded that he was all right.

"I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Kenshin explained, trying to ease the worried look in Sanosuke'e eyes.

He grabbed the sakabato quickly but lightly and pulled it towards his body, an unknown sensation sweeping through him as he recalled the dream. The dream just wouldn't leave him alone!

"Maybe you should sleep for the rest of the day, I'll tell Missie here that you had a rough night." Sano offered, getting a reluctant nod from Kenshin after a moment or two of silence.

Kenshin got up on his shaking but still a little unsteady feet and made his way back to his room, instantly throwing the sakabato away from him with disgust. He wiped the sweat off his heads, closing his eyes and trying to cleanse himself of the smell, the feel, the taste, and the sight of blood.

'There are two choices,' His inner voice spoke softly as Kenshin nodded, waiting for his choices. He opened his eyes, blinking. He looked at the sakabato and then at the door leading further inside the dojo and then the door leading out and away from the dojo.

Now it was his choice. Choice one or choice two. Life as a rurouni, or giving the death their wish. He blinked and titled his head, seemingly deep in thought. 'If I were to die, then that would mean that they wouldn't have to worry about my enemies from the past.' He reasoned with himself.

'But wouldn't they cry? Would they worry and be sad?' He didn't know the answer to those simple yet complicated questioned, only his friends themselves would be able to answer that and he wasn't very opted to do that. After all, do you go up to a friend and ask if you should abandon them or kill yourself to repent for your sins?

What would he do?

TBC


	4. Departure

Dream a Dream by Red Tail

He had decided. Abruptly of course, it came to his head. He couldn't make the people that he cared for suffer. Again.

Kenshin looked down at his sakabato. He had to carry it with him on his journey that he was about to take. He remembered the vow that he made a long time ago during the war for each victim he felled.

He promised them vengeance.

And that was exactly what he was going to do after he journeyed Japan and felt that it had no use for a murderer like him.

Kenshin sighed heavily and ran a hand through his fiery red hair and bent down as he gathered his meager possessions. He had, after all, kept little for a a reason. Just incase something came up and he had to leave for the safety of his friends.

He took out a piece of paper and looked at it softly before writing down his farewell letter that they would find later, he didn't want them to worry about his safety.

That was another reason why he had to take the sakabato, for protection. For some reason before this all happened, he looked to his reversed blade sword for protection. The other reason for bringing this would because they might have thought he had been captured and the captor left his sword. After all, who would take the enemy's weapon?

He quickly grabbed his belongings as he set the letter down lightly onto of the folded futon that he once used the sleep on. He rubbed his eyes slightly, smiling weakly when he realized that he hadn't slept in so long after the dreams started occurring.

He sighed and pulled himself from his wandering thoughts and got to his feet. He looked out the door that opened out onto the porch. He raised his head, lost in the beauty of the stars before he looked back down to the hard and battered earth.

Grabbing his sandals, he put them on in one swift yet silent motion as he grabbed his small bag and swung it lightly over his shoulders. It didn't make a sound and nor did he as he began his departure.

He turned one final time as he stood before the gates of the Kamiya Dojo. He smiled softly though his violet eyes told a much different and sadder story. He turned and walked away from the dojo towards the city and then towards the country.

He didn't even look back once.

TBC

Author's note:

Sorry for the long wait in the update and also I'm sorry for the really short chapter. I just can't write long chapter's anymore… ::sigh:: well, I did this for ASKInfinity since she likes Kenshin and all.

Thanks for the reviews guys, it's really nice of y'all!

Red Tail


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